Approximately 227 years ago, in 1797, George Washington became the first U.S. president to voluntarily cede the presidency to his successor. At the time, this was unheard of.

Arguably, though, the United States’ future as a democratic republic was only cemented much later, on March 4, 1797, when John Adams was sworn in as George Washington’s successor.

What was most remarkable about George Washington was (to riff off a fellow whose birthday we celebrated last month) ... Presiding over its first years from 1789 to 1797, ...

When President George Washington left office in 1797, he took his presidential papers with him. Federal agents never searched his Mount Vernon home in Virginia. The papers belonged to the former ...

George Aquilla Hardy wanted to imagine Washington, who served as president from 1789 to 1797, in a new light. Hardy took to the image-editing platform Photoshop to illustrate what he thought ...

When George Washington left the presidency in 1797, he was looking forward to some relaxation—returning to Mount Vernon and the pastoral life that had been distant during his time as president.